REDVERS — The latest round of Traffic Safety Fund grants have been approved and disbursed to 79 communities across the province with around $1.6 million going towards 82 projects. Locally, 10 municipalities were approved for a total of $165,377 under the twice-annual grant.
Local municipalities that received grants include Redvers, Kipling, Wawota, Whitewood, Spy Hill, the RM of Antler and the RM of Rocanville.
“There are hundreds of municipalities in Saskatchewan, and every community has specific needs,” Minister Responsible for SGI Jeremy Harrison said. “These grants are extremely beneficial because they fund safety improvements directly identified by each community.”
The majority of projects funded (around 75 per cent) targeted speeders, ranging from the installation of speed bumps to the addition of speed trackers, and speed display signs in many communities. Funds granted ranged from $197 to the maximum $100,000, with the Town of Redvers receiving the highest amount of funding dollars locally for a $63,542 school zone project applied for last September. The project centres on the installation of four sets of flashing crosswalks on Broadway Street to not only allow pedestrians—especially students—a safe crossing but also make traffic aware of those crossing.
“With the school zone near Highway 13, traffic enters at high speeds from the intersections,” noted Town of Redvers Assistant CAO Jena Cowan in her application. “There are long stretches of roadway without stop or yield signs, and traffic gains speed in these areas despite it being a posted school zone of 30 km/hr.”
To mitigate those speeders choosing to ignore the posted speed limit, Cowan also proposed installing rubber speed bumps in the problem areas around the school.
“Many families with young children feel nervous to send their children to school on foot, based on the heavy high school student traffic, as well as other residents on their way to work in the morning,” Cowan noted, adding that those parents would rather drive their children to and from school instead. “Installing crosswalks to increase visibility, and speed bumps to slow down traffic will give parents the peace of mind they should have residing in a small community such as ours.”
Broadway Street is also a route that larger vehicles utilize, adding to the safety concerns for younger pedestrians.
“We have a lot of semis going down Main Street to deliver to our businesses at all times of the day,” Cowan said. “So we thought about our main intersections on Broadway Street for the students walking to school to be able to cross safely.”
The speed bumps are also removable, allowing them to be utilized in other areas if needed. Current plans are to remove the speed bumps during the summer months when students are not in school.
“We’ve got some other options for some, more high-density residential areas,” Cowan said. “A lot of our kids like to play street hockey, so in those areas that we see that trend, we could maybe in the summer months move them over there.”
She was quite grateful for the Traffic Safety Fund grants, which allow projects to happen in municipalities that might not otherwise see those funding dollars.
“Projects like this are very easy to push off because something bigger came up, so we’re lucky that this funding is available because, without it, this wouldn’t be happening this year,” she said. “When it comes to traffic safety, budget is such a poor excuse—especially if something happens.”
As for future projects around the school area, Cowan would like to focus on upgrading the sidewalk in order to improve accessibility.
“That’s what a lot of our projects have been as well lately, is to make sure that they are accessible, especially because we have wheelchair users in our school,” Cowan explained.
RM of Antler receives $16,052
In the RM of Antler, their project is Advanced Warning Light Beacons for Fire Truck Safety, which received $16,052 in funding.
“It’s a flashing beacon system put along Number 8 Highway to alert people to stop or give way to the fire truck when it’s trying to leave the fire hall,” explained RM of Antler Administrator Jocelyne Toms-Delmaire.
The initial application sought two such signs, but the RM was approved for one.
“We find at times that they’re stuck at the stop sign, trying to get out on the highway, and people keep going on by and ignoring the fire trucks,” said Toms-Delmaire, adding that the visibility of the flashing beacon—which can only be activated during a fire call—will allow crews to arrive on-scene even faster.
Kipling receives $7,953
The Town of Kipling’s Speed Management Initiative funding grew from a resident concern regarding speeding motorists on Fourth Street brought forward to Town Council. While the original plan was to install speed bumps, council decided to move forward with applying for signage instead.
“We received a grant of $7,953, and it is the third time we have received a grant from the SGI provincial traffic safety fund,” Mayor Pat Jackson explained. “This time, what we are doing is we are getting four portable speed signs.”
The portability of the signage was an attractive option as it can be moved and used in various areas easily, especially since the lights are solar-powered.
“The idea, of course, with solar is we don’t have to string cables out and cords out to have them actually work,” Mayor Jackson said.
Spy Hill receives $7,500
The Village of Spy Hill was the recipient of $7,500 for their Speed Management project, focused on slowing down speeders on the 600 Grid with a flashing speed awareness sign. Village Councillor Allan Perrin noted the frequency of high-speed traffic led to their municipality meeting with the Esterhazy RCMP and applying for the traffic safety grant.
“It’s not just the children that we’re concerned with, there’s people of all ages—children, older, people, younger, all types, go walking down that street,” Perrin said, adding it’s not uncommon to see vehicles travel more than 100 km/hr through Spy Hill, despite a posted 40 km/hr speed limit.
Without a funding source like the traffic safety grant, Perrin says such a project simply wouldn’t happen.
“Our income is tax based, and smaller communities such as Spy Hill, I think we’re all in the same position that every dollar is spent almost before we get it,” he said. “So as far as us taking this on without the help of SGI, no, it wouldn’t have happened.”
RM of Rocanville receives $8,944
The RM of Rocanville received $8,944 for their Speed Signs for Safety project. Signage will be installed just north of Rocanville in an area noted as a concern for speeding traffic entering the RM.
Reeve Melissa Ruhland noted that the idea evolved from a community meeting held in early 2024.
“One of the questions from a ratepayer that had come out was about speeding on that section of highway,” she said. “So the RM took that forward, we wrote a letter and applied for the grant.”
The portion of roadway in question is a 60 km/hr zone with vehicle traffic routinely travelling in excess of that posted speed limit.
“There’s lots of foot traffic, lots of walkers use that stretch and there’s quite a few houses along there as well,” Ruhland said. “We’re just hoping that will make it a bit safer, and help increase awareness of what the speed actually is.”
The new project is also another way to strengthen the working relationship between both municipalities.
“We try to work with the town as much as we can,” said Ruhland. “This is something that we can do that is good not only for the RM, but it’s good for the town because it will directly impact the community there.”
This is the second time the RM of Rocanville has secured funding for a traffic safety initiative as a previous signage project took place near Ste-Marthe-Rocanville.
“We similarly had put some speed signs outside of Ste. Marthe on each side of the hamlet there itself as well,” Ruhland said. “With all the traffic that goes to the mine and those houses are really close by the road, I think it’s been a very welcome addition.”
Whitewood receives $11,552
The Town of Whitewood received $11,552 for their Lalonde Street Speed Awareness project. The radar signage on Lalonde Street marks the third time Whitewood has received a grant from the traffic safety fund.
Wawota receives $10,198
The town of Wawota received $10,198 for their Speed Management project, something Mayor Kevin Kay says will assist in keeping the community safe.
“Signage is a big deal here,” he said. “It’s about keeping people aware of what’s going on, recognizing that traffic is starting to pick up as population grows here in Wawota, and just wanting to keep our citizens safe.”
Kay also agreed that the traffic fund is quite helpful for communities to implement additional safety measures without affecting the current budget.
“It’ll help us significantly,” he said.
Montmartre receives $9,186
The Village of Montmartre received $9,186 for their Speed Awareness and Management project, something Administrator Dale Brenner anticipates will curb speeding from traffic entering the community.
“I’m glad we got it,” he said of the grant. “It’s always good to try and make people aware of their speeds.”
The new solar-powered signage will be a welcome addition to traffic mitigation efforts currently in place.
“We already have ones going through town on Highway 48, these are access roads coming into the municipality where there’s a lot of traffic,” Brenner explained. “You’re coming in from a road that has a higher speed limit posting to where, all of a sudden, you’re supposed to be down to 40 km/hr, and just making them aware to get speeds down.”
Oxbow receives $9,032
The Town of Oxbow was the lucky recipient of two portable speed awareness sign and trailer projects, each funded at $9,032.
“They approved two trailers and then signs on those trailers, basically,” explained Oxbow’s Community Development Officer, Treena Mohrbutter. “I think it’s going to be great because we have had concerns on certain roads, and then that way, we could move it around and see if it makes a difference.”
Grenfell receives $12,386
In Grenfell, the $12,386 in funds the town received means the Keeping Pedestrians Safe project will become a reality.
“Half of our population in Grenfell is on the other side of the railway tracks going through,” explained Mayor Mark Steininger. “It’s going to make it a lot safer for the kids when they’re going to school and the people crossing there. It’s quite wonderful.”
Funding for the flashing signage at the rail crossing through the provincial grant allowed the town to move forward with the project in a more expedient manner.
“If we had to pay for it, I don’t know where down the road we could do it,” said Mayor Steininger. “This speeds it up and makes it a lot safer.”
The Provincial Traffic Safety Fund grants use proceeds from photo speed enforcement, with some $13.1 million distributed to 870 projects since 2019. Applications considered target traffic issues including speeding, impaired driving, distracted driving, occupant protection, intersection safety, aggressive driving, vulnerable road users, or medically-at-risk drivers.
Those applications are reviewed by a committee comprised of members from the Saskatchewan Urban Municipalities Association, the Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities, the Prince Albert Grand Council, the Saskatchewan Association of Chiefs of Police, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Highways and SGI.
Applications are currently being accepted for the next round of funding through the Provincial Traffic Safety Fund Grant, with a submission deadline of March 31.
